Listen to the Old and Wise
by ExcellentDriver
Summary: Booth visits his grandfather and finds out Pops is very well informed about what's going on in his life. Post 6x07. No spoilers.


**I'm so frustrated with Booth lately that I keep writing and writing one-shots trying to understand his actions. I hope you guys don't mind. :P**

**I just wrote this because I think Pops is the cutest grandpa in the world. Also, I loved how he bonded with Brennan and saw that she and Booth were in love with each other, although they couldn't admit it. Not to mention he was such a B&B shipper. So, I was thinking about what he'd say to Booth if he learned about Hannah.**

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"Shrimp!"

"Pops!" A genuine smile shined on Booth's face as he hugged his beloved grandfather. It had been a while since he'd seen the older man.

"How are you doing, son?" Hank asked and sat back on the bench at the Willow River Retirement Community. He was glad to see the boy he raised.

"I'm fine, Pops, I'm fine." Booth nodded his head and smiled.

Hank stared carefully at his grandson's face for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on before shaking his head. "You don't look very good."

"What do you mean I don't look very good, Pops?" Booth let out a laugh.

"You're smiling, but your smile doesn't reach your eyes." The old man leaned back on the bench and pointed at Booth's eyes with two fingers. "Just like your friend's."

"My friend's?" _What was Pops talking about?_

"Yeah, the beautiful smart scientist." Hank said like it was obvious who he was talking about. "She looks sad."

"You've seen Bones lately?" Now that was a surprise. _How on Earth had Pops seen Bones?_

"Yeah." Hank narrowed his eyes. "She comes here to visit me every other Sunday."

"Bones drives here twice a month?"

"Sometimes three times." Hank smiled at the thought of the nice scientist. "She's a great lady. Sometimes we go for a walk and she takes me to a great ice cream parlor that we have near here. Although… she can be such a pain in the ass sometimes, making sure I'm taking all my medicines correctly… talk about a bossy lady…" He opened his eyes widely and faked annoyance.

"That's Bones." Booth couldn't help but smile too. He had no idea his partner was visiting his grandfather. She never told him anything about it. Somehow, it made his chest pain with guilty. Since he came back from Afghanistan, almost three months before, he'd only visited Hank two times. Now with Hannah in town and Parker on the weekends, he barely had any free time. But now looking at his grandfather's face, the man who saved his life and raised him, he felt like a jerk for putting him low in his list of priorities. He'd have to thank Brennan for taking care of his grandfather when he seemed to forget about him. "But… Pops… why is she coming here? She never told me she kept visiting you…"

"I might be old but I still have a lot of charm, son." Hank smirked and pretended to be offended by the comment. His grandson laughed. "Now, I don't know, Shrimp. We like to talk, she likes to talk and I'm a good listener. I really don't mind listening to a beautiful woman talking about interesting things. But to be honest… I think she's feeling lonely. And sometimes I feel quite lonely too. So, we get along pretty well."

"You're feeling lonely?" Booth felt a lump on his throat. _What has been doing lately? That man spent his life taking care of him and what does he do now that he needs him? He abandons him_. "And Bones isn't lonely… she has all the squints, she has me…"

"She never says she's lonely, but I can see the sadness in her eyes. She pretends to be such a strong and independent woman, but she has a child's heart." Hank frowned. "She told me her best friend is having a baby, and she's very excited about it."

"Yes, Angela." Booth nodded. "She got married about a year ago."

"And that Cam is in a very serious relationship and loving motherhood." He continued.

"That's true too. Michelle is going to college and she's freaking out." The younger man laughed.

"She also told me that guy almost Parker's age is engaged again." Hank knitted his eyebrows. "Are you sure he's old enough to get legally married?"

"He's 25." Booth chuckled. "I'm not sure he's doing the right thing though, the woman left him to go to Indonesia for a year… but the kid won't listen to me…"

"Temperance also told me you're sharing an apartment with your new girlfriend." Hank finally said, his eyes not leaving his grandson's face.

"Bones really didn't leave you behind on the news, did she?" He snorted and made a big effort not to roll his eyes. He still hadn't told Pops about Hannah. Like he did with Parker, he wanted to make sure the relationship was really serious before he introduced them.

"Someone has to tell me what's going on in your life, since you barely come here to visit me anymore." Hank shrugged.

"Ok, stop with that." Booth raised one hand. He knew he was wrong, but hearing that from his grandpa's mouth hurt. "I've been pretty busy lately." He said like that was a good excuse for his behavior.

"With your new lady?" Hank said wryly.

"Yes, her name is Hannah." Booth nodded and managed to quickly sell the good image of his girlfriend. "She left Afghanistan to live with me in DC. She's a journalist and she's very pretty and smart."

"I see…"

"What?"

"Nothing…" Hank sighed. "You just don't see very excited talking about her."

"What? What do you mean I'm not excited? Why shouldn't I be excited about her? She's gorgeous, she's nice, she's smart and, best of all, she loves me."

"But do you love her?"

"Of course I do!" Booth said almost annoyed.

Hank pursed his lips.

"Your eyes don't sparkle when you talk about her." Hank commented. "Before, when you came here to visit me, you spent almost the entire time talking about the things you and your lady friend have done, and every time you talked about her, you had this goofy smile on your face and your eyes sparkled. I don't see any of this when you talk about this new lady."

"Pops… I… I don't really want to talk about it, okay?" Booth sighed and closed his eyes. "Things between Bones and I… it didn't work… I took a gamble, I asked her to give us a chance, but she didn't want to. She didn't want to and now I've moved on. I've moved on and I'm happy."

"You took a gamble?" Hank furrowed his brows. "You don't take gambles on the woman you love!"

"Pops…"

"You told her you loved her?"

"No, but-"

"Then you should."

"Pops, this is in the past… Hannah…"

"Stop talking about this poor lady who you're using as an excuse to fool your heart." Hank cut him off. "You can lie to your friends, you can lie to yourself, but I can see the truth, son. I know you, and I can see you're not happy. Not truly happy. You're trying to convince yourself you are, but you are not."

"I'm-"

"No, you're not going out with your friends anymore, for heaven's sake, you don't even see Parker that much anymore! You barely visit me!" Hank reminded him. Temperance Brennan really was a great source of information. "The Seeley Booth I raised would always put his family and friends above a girlfriend. Always."

"Bones told you all this?"

"She doesn't admit it, son, but she is also very upset. All she tells me are good things about you." He took his grandson's hand. "That great woman? She loves you. She'd do anything to make you happy, even accept you being with someone else."

"She doesn't love me, Pops… I told you…"

"Think about everything that has happened and try to figure things out. If you think your heart really belongs to the journalist, than I'm happy for you. But make sure your heart beats faster when you're around her, make sure you two always have something to talk about, make sure she's always there by your side in the good and in the bad moments, make sure you can see yourself with her in forty years. Because, son, once you make that decision… once you take a step further in this relationship, you might not be able to take it back. And you might lose the one you really love forever."

"Pops…"

"Just think about it, Shrimp." He patted Booth's shoulders. "Now tell me about my great grandson, I heard he's doing very well on the football team in his school…"

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**I stopped there because I really just wanted to see Pops talking about Hannah and Brennan with Booth. I'd totally want to see Pops meeting Hannah, and I love how straight forward he is about what he thinks.**

**And no, I don't want to talk about the horrific sides that came out last night. There is no way THAT is going to happen. Nope.  
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